They were interviewing Ward on Sports Beat tonight and he stated that he's going to sit down and have a talk with Smith. I love Smith's intensity and physical nature, but he needs to get his head right or he will be gone.

I guess I'm one fo the few who really think this kid could be an asset, IF, as you mention, he gets his head out of his ass. I know, he's had some time and has been inconsistent, needs to be smarter in practice and in games. But Jesus, that hit on Chad a coupla years ago... If he could bring that all the time...

They were interviewing Ward on Sports Beat tonight and he stated that he's going to sit down and have a talk with Smith. I love Smith's intensity and physical nature, but he needs to get his head right or he will be gone.

I guess I'm one fo the few who really think this kid could be an asset, IF, as you mention, he gets his head out of his ass. I know, he's had some time and has been inconsistent, needs to be smarter in practice and in games. But Jesus, that hit on Chad a coupla years ago... If he could bring that all the time...

I don't see him ever being starter quality. He could be fine in the nickel or dime, but he clearly lacks the discipline to play FS along side of Troy. He also doesn't have great recovery speed, so when his bone head mind gets him out of posistion, he is going to get beat everytime. The big hit is nice and all, but I want a FS who does his job and makes plays based on superior posistioning and actually has a grasp on team defense, ie. Clark. His big hit to TD's allowed ratio is like 1:3. Not to good. The hot doggin', the shit talkin', and crushing invaluable team mates in non-contact drills has got to go. And if that means Smith has got to go, don't let the door hit you in ass on the way out. WTF has this kid ever done, including playing on a shit Syracuse team, that entitles him to be such an asshole?

Ya Finny I hear you. Maybe SS is better suited for him. He can't be worse than Ty right? Right?.... You're right about the learning curve for DB's, especially in the Steelers system and he could probably overcome his speed shortcomings with better positioning and reading of the plays.

Its just that, his mistakes are almost always mental. Whether it is allowing a huge TD play to JAX, or leveling our SB MVP in practice, he just isn't thinking correctly. His attitude blows as well. What's this year 3 for him now? You would expect, hope, that at least his attitude was coming around. It just doesn't seem like we are seeing any progression with him. He was doing this shit his rookie year and he is still doing it.

Hopefully, he can put it together on the field this year a little better. There is some talent there, but is it enough to justify all the other baggage? When do you declare a "Zo" and move on? I'm not saying cut him right now (although I wouldn't be to upset about it), but come on Ant, show us someone other than the same immature, boneheaded player we've seen so far...... He should be psyched about the lack of depth at his position.

They were interviewing Ward on Sports Beat tonight and he stated that he's going to sit down and have a talk with Smith. I love Smith's intensity and physical nature, but he needs to get his head right or he will be gone.

I guess I'm one fo the few who really think this kid could be an asset, IF, as you mention, he gets his head out of his ass. I know, he's had some time and has been inconsistent, needs to be smarter in practice and in games. But Jesus, that hit on Chad a coupla years ago... If he could bring that all the time...

I agree with the notion of Smith being more of a SS and not FS....Provided he makes the cut. I have said it before, I will put it out there again...Mundy will be the starting FS in 2009.

Logged

It's a hot night. The mind races. You think about your knife; the only friend who hasn't betrayed you, the only friend who won't be dead by sun up. Sleep tight, mates, in your quilted Chambray nightshirts.

Its just that, his mistakes are almost always mental. Whether it is allowing a huge TD play to JAX, or leveling our SB MVP in practice, he just isn't thinking correctly. His attitude blows as well. What's this year 3 for him now? You would expect, hope, that at least his attitude was coming around. It just doesn't seem like we are seeing any progression with him. He was doing this shit his rookie year and he is still doing it.

I remember when he acted like an a-hole after his INT and LeBeau reamed him out on the sidelines, I was thinking to myself that this guy could turn out be a mental jagoff. Then after the game he stated something along the lines that he has something special in store for us when he grabs his next INT, then I remember thinking to myself "Chad Johnson". You pick off a pass, start dancing while the play is still going on, get yelled at by your DC and then you turn around and tell us you have something lined up for the fans/team after your next INT?

Then came the Patriots game. Now all of a sudden Smith feels the need to put his teammates on the spot and act like he's a ten year veteran with the skills to back it up, so he guarantee's a victory. Unfortunately for Smith and for his teammates, Smith didn't back up his talk and ended up making an ass out himself. Not only am I sure he pissed off a few of the veterans on the team with his "guarantee", but he definately pissed off Mike Tomlin who was vocal about his displeasure with Smith's comments stating "Guarantees aren't worth the paper they're written on. It's not about what we say. It's about what we do. Write your own checks. Don't write 'em for the whole team.".

Then there are his actions in TC for the last two seasons. There was the incident last season when he decided to lay out Willie Reid and Ward flipped out on him. This season he has already laid out Willie Reid (again) and Hines Ward. It's all fun and games and no big deal until he seriously hurts a fellow teammate. Personally, I don't mind a guy slipping up and laying out a hit in TC, but to do it time and time and time again is immature and idiotic.

And those are just the incidents that we know of when it comes to this guy.

As I said before, I love his intensity and hard hitting style, but that doesn't mean jack shit if you can't get your head together on and off the field. I'm with you when it comes to the question, how much longer does the coaching staff put up with this tool? It's not going to matter if he can play SS or FS if he doesn't get his head straight and up to this point it appears he's not showing signs of maturing. Sounds like the same old Anthony Smith.

I don't follow with the SS talk....as a backup, maybe. I'm thinking he has starter potential to keep plays in front of him...FS in our system, & with his attitude/ lack of respet for legends, starter potential is the only reason I'd keep him around.

The guy ran a 4.7-4.9 40 if my memory serves. Why not bulk him up & make him a fast OLB instead? Porter2.

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and when the gas runs out, just wreck it, you've insured the thing. -Soul Coughing

The Philadelphia Eagles let Donovan McNabb play through two possessions last night at Heinz Field, one more than the Steelers risked with Ben Roethlisberger and one less than ultimately was prudent for Charlie Batch.

There is no thinner coaching tightrope than preseason football, when careful, calculating men like Mike Tomlin and Andy Reid inch from one platform to another across a 100 X 53-yard pit of fire.

Four times. Five if you're unlucky.

Sometimes it seems the whole purpose of this interminable NFL August is to arrive at September with some semblance of the roster with which you started training camp. The volatile mix of semi-bored veterans, confused and skittish rookies, and desperate, borderline psychotic free agents is potentially disastrous from the standpoint of what polite company calls wellness.

So there was Batch, kneeling in front of Steelers trainer John Norwig in the second quarter, feeling like an anvil had fallen on his throwing shoulder. Forced to run on a broken play resulting from an apparent miscommunication with running back Mewelde Moore, Batch was smacked by Eagles safety Sean Considine, who fracturing the right collarbone of the one of the league's top backup passers.

Frightening as that was for Pittsburgh's quarterback depth, the more pivotal collision in the near term might have been the leg injury to rookie safety Ryan Mundy earlier in this first preseason game.

If Mundy isn't unavailable to backup starters Ryan Clark and Troy Polamalu, it will delay and perhaps even prevent the Steelers from making the one personnel move most called for after two weeks of camp and four quarters of approximate football: ridding themselves of Anthony Smith.

Last seen preening over the crumpled form of Hines Ward on a St. Vincent lawn 48 hours earlier, Smith was on the sidelines last night in street clothes and a backward visor, ostensibly the sufferer of a groin injury that somehow didn't keep him out of practice Wednesday afternoon, even after Tomlin had declared him unavailable for the Eagles appointment.

If you can't get through a preseason game with any expectation of avoiding serious injury, you should at least be able to get through a practice without having to watch your four-time All Pro receiver and the competitive soul of the offense absorb a bone-rattling cheap shot from the notorious Smith.

Smith will be 25 years old on Sept. 20, but continues to back pedal from maturity faster than if he's covering Terrell Owens.

It was one thing for Bill Cowher to attribute to inexperience Smith's embarrassing rookie performance at Carolina, in which defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau practically dragged him off the field at the end of a ridiculous high-stepping interception return.

It was another when Tomlin scolded the media for paying any attention to him when Smith predicted a victory at unbeaten New England last December, a severe stupidity spasm that earned him a pat on the head and a severe toasting by Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

But this week's training camp thuggery at the expense of one of the franchise's most decorated veterans smells to me like strike three. There was a time in Smith's alleged development when his wealth of athleticism and general disregard for the safety of himself and opponents was thought to be manageable by a veteran coaching staff. But Smith just doesn't listen.

After the Wednesday collision with Ward, who'd personally scolded Smith last year at Latrobe when Smith nearly took Willie Reid's head off in a drill, LeBeau walked from his usual station behind the offense all the way over to where Smith was sitting on his helmet. Whatever the esteemed defensive coordinator said to the third-year underachiever out of Syracuse, the player never altered his gaze nor acknowledged the coach.

Tomlin did not go into his second training camp as a big fan of Anthony Smith and will admit to a certain distaste for safeties who let opponents get behind them, but after Wednesday, I couldn't figure out why Smith should be allowed back on the field with this team.

The reason temporarily might be Mundy's less than satisfying debut last night. A sixth-round draft choice out of West Virginia via Michigan via Woodland Hills, Mundy made consecutive tackles on two McNabb completions at the end of the first quarter. Problem was, the completions netted 40 yards and Philly's DeSean Jackson made the second one with Mundy looking a little too much like a spectator, drawing a brief lecture from Tomlin. Four plays later, Mundy tackled Lorenzo Booker after a six yard gain, needed to be helped to his feet, and went off in a slow wobble.

Waning depth at safety will likely keep Anthony Smith around for awhile, which just as likely means, again, somebody's going to get hurt. If I know Hines Ward, it might be Anthony Smith.